Albanian tomatoes are exported even to the top exporting tomato country in the world, Holland

For Albanian export company Arbana Bio Cooperative these are busy times. Both their peppers and tomatoes are in season for the second time this year. The country hasn’t been taken as serious when it comes to their produce, but Export Manager Labinot Sahiti claims that image is changing fast.

Arbana Bio cultivates many fruits and vegetables, but currently the tomatoes and peppers are in season. A busy time, according to export manager Labinot Sahiti: “This is the first year where we really see a big increase in demand and orders. Ten years ago nobody had even heard of Albania’s cultivation. More than a decade later, after we’ve invited potential clients to see and taste our produce, they’ve agreed that Albania is an interesting market for them. Poland and Holland have finally discovered our potential.”

The tomatoes and peppers are exported to Poland and The Netherlands for the most part, although Italy, Czech Republic, Romania and Latvia have also shown an interest of late. And the season itself is going really well according to Sahiti: “The weather was great, which resulted in about a 15% increase of production this year. This helped, as the demand is growing just as fast. The prices are a lot better, although the increased demand will hardly have an effect on them. We have contracts for the most part, which means the prices are fixed for this season.”